The Top Hat
by dandelion-kid
Summary: [I claim no right to the Digimon franchise.] Koushiro has an article of clothing, a black fedora, which miraculously changes him from geeky and shy, to charming and confident. One night, his new instincts lead to an unforgiving result. [Takiro, Taito]


You may not think of me as a young, handsome gentleman who can whisk young ladies off of their feet and bear them away on a glittering, built to perfection horse-drawn carriage, as I sit almost motionless her, typing frantically away at the silver-grey buttons built upon my keyboard. The flash of neon light passes across my face as an endless amount of codes, digits and problems, which, to anybody else, would otherwise appear as a mass of unrecognisable dribble. But I understand, and this is the reason why I consider my self intellectually gifted, and the thing that makes this god-worthy, unbearably delicious gift so much more enjoyable. Ugh, I hate using those juicy words in my head. They sound so much dirtier than they already seem. I guess, sitting here, that I appear as loner who never gets out too much. Well, I suppose people have a right to believe that, as the drapes are always drawn as I correct homework. Or, usually, doing Taichi's homework for him. He pleads constantly for me to help him. Taichi is awesome and everything, but I have to admit, he isn't the smartest kid on the block. Poor guy. I meant, I can't seem to come to terms that despite our survival for millions of years and all the things that we made and all the wars that we fought to survive, that in our modern day and age we cannot even find the square root of three-thousand, four-hundred and twenty-six without using an electronically controlled system, such as a calculator. I think we all depend on electronics nowadays. I mean, my computer is the next most important thing in line in my life, excluding my family, friends and school.

I am the biggest nerd in the class. No exaggeration, I swear – if there was a say, Olympics for nerd, I'd win some sort of medal made up of anything that was higher in the order of expensive, glittering metals such as gold. I am not sure if that exists, though I sure will have to read up on it, now I come to mention it. So, everybody would ponder why such a little dork like me would be able to score any girl on a particular night, wearing a particular clothing items that switches me from lonely, timid, socially-inept kid to charming, graceful, seductive hunk. I know, hard to accept. I swear, the look on Yamato's face is just priceless when a lady chooses to buy a drink from me instead of him.

The beautiful realisation that I received was that this item of clothing bestows its powers upon me, and me only. Poor Joe learned the hard way when we both went to a club, accompanied with Sora and Mimi. He placed the black fedora upon his mop of light-blue hair, before bravely trotting up to a really good-looking blonde with whom he flirted embarrassingly and consistently with her. Frightened after several minutes, she slapped him and stomped away furiously.

I reckon he hasn't been the same since, the poor guy.

So, I stand here, dressing confidently into my khaki pants and bland, white shirt and dark blue shirt. I have no fear, as I reach delicately into a small, wooden box and pull out the reason for my distinctive, seldom partying.

My black, night-changing fedora, the only thing which gives me the cute, boyish radiance that I desire and deserve – Taichi has it naturally, and Yamato, Takeru and Daisuke have all seemed to inherit it as a plus for being so freakin' cool. But what about me, I think. I needed it to appear so much better looking than I was. I felt slightly pathetic as I sat it upon my head of cardinal-red colored hair. I radiated with pursuit of women, grinning goofily at myself in the mirror. I switched off my computer and whipped out my cellphone, phoning Taichi's number as I waited calmly for him to pick. The patient wait only lasted for several moments, as the voice of Kamiya Taichi spoke excitedly, with the sound of Yamato chuckling in the background as the spiky-haired boy giggled boyishly, if that term describes it properly.

"Hello, Koushiro?"

I nodded despite him not looking at me literally. "Yeah, that's me. You ready?"

Taichi paused for a moment, and he coughed a little as he seemed to back away a little from Yamato, and out into the hallway, judging on the sound of his footsteps. I waited with bated breath as he spoke quietly, his voice deeply hushed. "Have you… the hat?"

I squirmed a little, adjusting it precisely on my head. "Yes."

Taichi seemed to sigh, and his normal voice came back almost instantly. Usual, happy-go-lucky Taichi we all knew and adored. I could see why Yamato liked him so much. "Good." The young man turned mellow and light for a moment. "Koushiro, boy, you know that none of us don't want to see you get hurt. Are you pretty sure that the hat is what is bringing you all the lady-luck?"

I nodded furiously and unnecessarily again. "Of course! You surely don't think that the computer nerd you see in school everyday is actually confident and flirtatious? Ever noticed how when I wear this hat, I get more romantic luck? Have you?"

Taichi, taken aback over the phone, rasped and spoke roguishly, making mocking noises over the phone. "I'm rolling my eyes right now, Koushiro. You know, I ALSO noticed that whenever you wear that hat, you turn into a right dickhead, too."

I was silently shocked and disturbed at my good friends behaviour. Right that moment, I realised I should have listened to him and saved myself a great deal of embarrassment, ridicule and pain. I trust Taichi with my life now, and the seemingly arrogant guy who everybody knows and loves is actually smarter than I first took him to be. I wish I knew better, and I find myself agreeing and accepting the thing he says far more often. Yamato often nods and places his arms around his boyfriend, placing a smacker on his cheek and complimenting him. Tai grins, basking in the attention, before turning hardheaded and momentarily stupid, until a few days later when he becomes almighty, wise Taichi. At that moment, though, I snobbishly yelled "Whatever," and hung up, infuriated. One thought rushed through my mind.

I'll show him.

So, sprinting outside and practically catapulting myself into the car, I shoved the keys into the ignition, cranked up the engine, and speedily drove to the new and hottest club, named "Red Champagne", and waited outside in the cold for Yamato, Taichi and Takeru. It was our own personal boys night out, something witch I'd have otherwise steered clear of. Soon enough they'd arrived, though, dressed proper for the occasion, all of them in jeans. Takeru wore a dark green sweater-vest, with white cuffs looping over the edge of the sleeves. He also wore white trainers. Only an over intelligent (or nerdy, if you prefer) would wear that in our school, and they'd be criticized cruelly for that. However, Takeru managed to pull every outfit off and still look good. He grinned as he approached me, raising his hand as a sign of greeting. I waved in response. Yamato and Taichi followed up, with Yama wearing a tight black shirt with his band trademark upon it. Taichi just wore a cool soccer jersey, avoiding my gaze and holding hands with the blonde-haired boy opposite him.

"Er, shall we?" Takeru said, breaking the silence and moving forward. Yamato, Taichi and I were twenty-three, twenty-three, twenty-one and nineteen, respectively. So, handing our identification to the security guard (a tall, balding man with a smug and toothless appearance), we entered. I gasped for a moment, the black fedora changing my view, opinion and personality completely. There were flashing lights of green, gold, red, blue (in fact, every single colour one could imagine in their deepest minds). Several high balconies showed couples, from straight to, er, not straight making out and there was a numberless crowd of people all dancing together. An enormous bar was located at the very side of the room – in fact, several drunken people were passed out and sopping wet with drink there.

Takeru appeared slightly taken aback with the flurry of it all, and he backed into Yamato and Taichi, who would have been a blind blur of agility had he not shot off to the balcony of making-out couples. Takeru shrugged and led me off to a crowd of young women, all of whom had been giggling flirtatiously at the two of us. They seemed to owe their attention to the constantly sexy, manly Takeru and the whole lot of them beckoned off toward him, pieces of paper in hand to ask him for numbers, no doubt. However, one shy-looking girl stayed behind, gazing at me with a soft smile. I moved forward, making sure that my black fedora was positioned handsomely atop my head and placed my hands on her hips, as she whispered into my ear, though I won't say what. She certainly wasn't the shy type she'd appeared to be. Now, I make sure to know more about somebody before I ruthlessly and endlessly make out with them.

"I'm Caitlin," she mumbled, as I slyly chuckled, swaying softly to the music.

"Izumi Koushiro, at your service." Man, this black fedora feels good. She brushed her fingers with mine gently, before leading me away. Through a pair of wooden doors, across a smaller dance floor, past a bathroom and all these crosses and such eventually led to a quiet spot in the hallway. Once there, Caitlin wasted no time and forcefully pushed me up against the wall, pressing her lips hard against mine as she freely roamed her hands across my chest. I pushed her against me, taking in the sweet scene of her perfume, intoxicating me, seducing me. I was feeling a little light-headed, by we swapped positions soon enough as it was me pressing her against the wall. She groaned a little, tugging at my hoodie as I grinned whilst kissing, savouring the moment. I wonder how Takeru is doing now, I thought enviously. I was jealous and lusty while the wearing that hat, and I can't help but imagine what mightn't have happened had I not committed that act. I released my hands from the back of her neck and grabbed her legs, sliding it up. Further, further, further, until my fingers were dancing delightfully across her upper thigh. She jumped a little, and we broke apart, panting.

"You're not bad, Koushiro," she cried. Then, without warning, she pushed me against the wall, a little harder than last time. I felt my head crack against the wall with the roughness, daring to kiss her neck feverishly. However, she placed her hands in my pants pockets and I questioned what she was doing. Then, we stopped. And slapped me across the cheek, and I had no time to respond as she shoved a tablet down my throat, and I choked and swallowed it in panic. I felt dizzy, sliding down the wall and tumbling into the darkness. She shrieked happily, pursuing through my pockets and stealing all four hundred dollars of my spending money, along with my cellphone. I tried to yell out, but my grogginess cancelled all thoughts of escaped and intervention.

Stop, bitch, stop, I thought. And as my head tilted to the side, the black fedora slipped off and a zooming experience consumed my body. I was alive and awake, but sluggish and unable to call for help. The nerdy, timid Koushiro was back and I felt tears streaming down my cheeks because of my stupidity. I'd been mugged, humiliated and could still smell Caitlin's intoxicating perfuming. I heard a call of 'girls, I got the money' and a rousing applause. I drifted off, before a blue-eyed face with matching blonde hair came into view.

It was Takeru, with Yamato and Taichi. I'd hardly been in Red Champagne for an hour, and still I'd already gotten into trouble. They helped me out, not saying a word, and drove back to my house. They told my adoptive parents that I'd bumped my head after a few drinks, but several weeks later I told the truth. I was grounded and humiliated, not to mention severely self-conscious. I've since gotten rid of that stupid black fedora and have found no reason to want it again.

I liked good, timid, quiet Koushiro who would never hurt a fly, and I prefer him to the rugged and idiotic one who appeared due to a simple piece of clothing article. I severely wish that I hadn't done it all, and would take it back if given the chance. Takeru and myself are briefly dating now, but I must admit we're taking it slowly. Yeah, we're both bisexual, who gives a crap? But still, I'm feeling very much happy with him and I'm hoping he's happy with me.

And I really learned my lesson, with that fedora. Yamato and Taichi still like how cute Takeru and I look when we walk into the apartment, grinning blissfully unaware of our cheesiness and giving us childish nicknames. Sometimes, though, when Takeru and I are feeling a little wild, he asks me to place the black fedora on. I do, and he chuckles and beckons me closer.

Okay, I lied.

But Takeru is my special exception.


End file.
